Fatso Jr. extension

Fantastic - The fleet I sail with has about 50-60 members, and the Fatso Jr is the choice of about 70%
 
Awesome thanks...another thing, I'm not the biggest sailor in the world, and for some reason I always feel the need to sail full rig to sail with bigger competition. The problem is I weigh about 115 lbs and I'm about 5'9, so it's imperative for me to hike hard and get myself out of the boat as much as possible to achieve maximum leverage, which brings me to my next question...36" or 48"???
 
I'm 5'10", I was using a 42", I found it too short in light air, marginal in full hiking (it didn't really allow steering with your hand across your body by your opposite shoulder.

I'm now using a 48". I like it.
 
I have a plain old aluminum stick. Sometimes I come out of a less-than-perfect tack, hit the new rail, and then scratch my head wondering "now where the *$%&* is the tiller extension?" only to have it eventually dawn on me that I'm sitting on it. So it gets bent a bit, and I straigten it out.

But aside from that, how much happier would I really be if I had a carbon extension?
 
Actually, I realize that Fatso Jr. doesn't make 36" anymore which is why I can look into other brands, I've just been recommended to use the Fatso Jr. I was sailing today and was having major difficulty making the transition during roll jibes, and then it hit me...what about a telescopic tiller extension? I need a longer extension upwind, but downwind is a completely different story! Any comments concerning the telescopic tiller ext.?
 
The JR's are geat extentions, better than the plain Fatso. My hands aren't that big for it. My suggestion is to make a ball at the end w/ electical tape and then make one about 4-6 inches below that just in case you need to choke up.

Shame that they don't make the 36" anymore. Those were great for my 420.
 
RadialKate said:
one more thing...telescopic tiller extensions are class legal right?
Click to expand...

Hi
our ILCA-Classrules say this:
“16. TILLER
(a)
The tiller and tiller extension are not restricted in any way except that the tiller:
i.
shall be capable of being removed from the rudder head.
ii.
shall be fitted with a cleat for the downhaul.
iii.
shall, except for normal wear caused by the traveller rope, be straight along its topmost edge between a point 30 mm in front of the forward edge of the rudder head and the cockpit end of the tiller.
(b)
The tiller may be fitted with an “anti wear” strip or tube of not more than 200 mm in length placed above the level of the straight edge required by 16 (a) iii and only where the traveller crosses the tiller.
(c)
The use of a tiller retaining pin is optional.”

Bye-bye
LooserLu
 
I use Ronstan Battlestik, carbon fibre, not sure I understand the Laser class fascination with thick extensions, surely it makes it harder to hold the mainsheet and extension in one hand while adjusting vang/cunningham/outhaul/centreboard, especially if you have small hands.
 
er173716 said:
The JR's are geat extentions, better than the plain Fatso. My hands aren't that big for it. My suggestion is to make a ball at the end w/ electical tape and then make one about 4-6 inches below that just in case you need to choke up.

Shame that they don't make the 36" anymore. Those were great for my 420.
Click to expand...


I'm sure you are aware that you can cut a 48" down, you can also email ACME and see if that have any blemish tubes that would work
 
The JR's are geat extentions, better than the plain Fatso. My hands aren't that big for it. My suggestion is to make a ball at the end w/ electical tape and then make one about 4-6 inches below that just in case you need to choke up.
Click to expand...
What i have actually done to my fatso extension is to get shrink tubing and place it at different intervals on the extension, say one hand width apart so i can grip it at different places depending on where i am sitting in the boat! i have about 4 pieces of shrink tubing on there at the moment so therefore i have 5 different places to hold the extension and i can always add more.
I have big hands so i can easily grip the extension and the mainsheet at the same time also i dont have a very grip tight on it so i can feel the pressure on the rudder and then decide whether i need to flatten the boat or not or release the sail in some way. I have not tried an extension with a smaller diameter so i do not know whether it would be better or not!
 
man the best extention i have ever used is the one i have now, its just a piece of aluminum with hockey tape wrapped around it, i went to princess auto and but the 8 foot legnth of 3/4'' aluminum tubing and cut it in half to make a 48'' and then wrapped it with hockey tape and put a universal on it...... its super stiff, doesnt bend no matter how much i sit on it and its not too heavy
 
All right, time for my questions.

Here in Arizona there is plenty of light wind, so we are sitting in front of the centerboard most of the time. My old extension is too short for this and I am about to by a Rooster extension. I think I want the thin one (13mm) with the grip on it. Are there any reasons why I should buy a fatter one (22mm or 25mm)?

Thanks,

Greg
 
Dont get a short extension, you need at least 48", i use one of the carbon kiwi tiller extensions and it is theperfect size, espessially in light winds, the only problems i ever have with such a long extension is on the reaches in heavy wind where im hikking off the back and im holding the extension at the joint. whatever tho, mine is 1.25 meters. Go for that, espessially if you need to hike further out than everyone else...i know i need to
 
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